December with its twinkling lights and Christmas decorations feels warm and comforting. And after the sparkle and shimmer of New Year’s Eve has faded, January can feel dark and cold. But as if to rescue us all from the bleak mid-winter, February comes with the red and pink hearts of Valentine’s Day!
I know that Valentine’s Day is no comparison to Jesus’ birthday, but I am always enlivened by its arrival.
The colors of the day brighten the dreary winter. Thoughts of love for my husband, my kids, my family, my friends and co-workers, my church – and even love for chocolate – fill my heart.
Then there is my deep love for the Lord. Even though His birth was celebrated less than 2 months ago, those warm, joyous feelings of Christmas have started to fade. After the revelry of Christmas is over, I slide back into the routine of life and everything feels kind of… gray.
So I chose to use Valentine’s Day as a time to remember the reason Jesus came – the amazing love that God feels for each and every one of us, and just how much I love Him! Truly when I am focused on the light of the world, the dreariness is gone!
May these scriptures fill you with light and warmth and, above all, the love of the Lord:
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 5:8 – “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
1 John 4:7-8 – “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Psalms 86:15 – “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
Ephesians 2:4-5 – “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.”
John 4:9-12 – “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
Deuteronomy 7:9 – “Now therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.”
1 John 4:16-18 – “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Proverbs 3:3-4 – “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.”
1 John 4:19 – “We love because he first loved us.”
1 Chronicles 16:34 – “O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His love endures forever.”
John 15:9-10 – “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”
